BRUSSELS – Those driving through France on Saturday should expect a great deal of traffic congestion. Saturday 14 July is Bastille Day of course, a national holiday in France. It is also the first day of the summer holiday for many Europeans. Because of the festivities the centres of many French cities will be difficult to access. Long delays are expected on the most important holiday routes, especially the A6/A7 between Paris, Lyon and Orange.

Also expect tailbacks on the A9 between Orange and the Spanish border, and on the A64 between Bordeaux and the Spanish border.

The roads around Le Grand Bornand in the French Alps are a bottleneck because the cyclists in the Tour de France will be arriving there on Saturday.

Busy roads are also expected in northern and eastern Germany, since the Germans head towards Scandinavia en masse with the start of their holiday season. In the south a lot of traffic is expected on the roads between Nuremburg, Munich and Salzburg.

Heavy traffic is expected in Austria and Switzerland at the major tunnels, like the Tauern and Katschberg tunnel, the Saint Gotthard tunnel and the San Bernardino tunnel.

A warning for those who are not so fond of dodging caravans on the roads: the summer holiday starts for more than 900,000 Dutch this weekend, half of whom will be heading abroad.

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news